As More and more cars are equipped with air bags, the number of reports of air bag—related eye injuries is also growing.1-8 When a new product, originally introduced to enhance safety, is itself identified as the possible source of trauma, it is time to reevaluate the product's usefulness.
Our search of the international literature found eight publications reporting on air bag—related eye injuries. Others appear in this issue of the Archives.9-13 An analysis of the details of the ocular trauma, the outcome, and the circumstances of the motor vehicle crash (MVC), as found in these previously published reports, is as follows.
See also pages 1317, 1318 and 1320
The title of the first report1 left no doubt as to the cause of the injury: "Severe Ocular Trauma From a Driver's Side Air Bag." However, if one reads the "Comment" section of this case report, serious doubts